Pancetta Done

Having spent the requisite two weeks in cool fridge, the pancetta is now done. It’s lost about 15% of its weight during that time, so in other words, not quite half as much as the salami, peperone, etc. Here’s what it looks like:

Standing up, it looks like this:

It’s certainly shrunk a good deal, but the huge amount of fat in the pork belly prevents it from losing moisture quickly. What’s more, the fat doesn’t really have any water to give up, so that’s another reason it cures slowly. With the hams now well on their way to their end point, the pancetta is no longer top dog in the size department. Time for it to get sliced up.